Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

THE FECKENHAM MEN

HE jolly men at Feckenham

TH

Don't count their goods as common men,

Their heads are full of silly dreams

From half-past ten to half-past ten,

They'll tell you why the stars are bright,
And some sheep black and some sheep white.

The jolly men at Feckenham

Draw wages of the sun and rain,
And count as good as golden coin
The blossoms on the window-pane,
And Lord! they love a sinewy tale
Told over pots of foaming ale!

Now here's a tale of Feckenham
Told to me by a Feckenham man,
Who, being only eighty years,
Ran always when the red fox ran,
And looked upon the earth with eyes
As quiet as unclouded skies.

These jolly men of Feckenham

One day when summer strode in power

Went down, it seems, among their lands And saw their bean fields all in flower"Wheat ricks," they said, "be good to see; What would a rick of blossoms be?"

So straight they brought the sickles out
And worked all day till day was done,
And builded them a good square rick
Of scented bloom beneath the sun.
And was not this I tell to you
A fiery-hearted thing to do?

JOHN DRINKWATER

T

THE THREE CHERRY TREES

HERE were three cherry trees once,

Grew in a garden all shady;

And there for delight of so gladsome a sight,
Walked a most beautiful lady,

Dreamed a most beautiful lady.

Birds in those branches did sing,
Blackbirds and throstle and linnet,

But she walking there was by far the most fair-
Lovelier than all else within it,
Blackbird and throstle and linnet.

But blossoms to berries do come,

All hanging on stalks light and slender,

And one long summer's day charmed that lady

away,

With vows sweet and merry and tender,

A lover with voice low and tender.

Moss and lichen the green branches deck;
Weeds nod in its paths green and shady;

Yet a light footstep seems there to wander in

dreams,

The ghost of that beautiful lady,

That happy and beautiful lady.

WALTER DE LA MARE

KALLUNBORG CHURCH

UILD at Kallunborg by the sea

BUILD

A church as stately as church may be, And there shalt thou wed my daughter fair," Said the Earl of Nesvek to Esbern Snare. And the Baron laughed. But Esbern said, "Though I lose my soul, I will Helva wed!" And off he strode, in his pride of will, To the Troll who dwelt in Ulshoi Hill. "Build, oh, Troll, a church for me At Kallunborg by the mighty sea; Build it stately and build it fair, Build it quickly," said Esbern Snare. But the sly dwarf said, "No work is wrought By Trolls of the Hills, O man, for naught. What wilt thou give for thy church so fair?" "Set thy own price!" quoth Esbern Snare. "When Kallunborg Church is builded well Thou must the name of the builder tell, Or thy heart and thy eyes must be my boon." "Build," said Esbern, "And build it soon.”

By night and by day the Troll wrought on; He hewed the timber, he piled the stone;

« ÎnapoiContinuă »